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Hurricane Kate (2027)
Hurricane Kate was a powerful, extraordinary and catastrophic Category 4 hurricane, having entered history as the first ever hurricane to make landfall on the European continent. It is the worst natural disaster to ever hit Portugal since the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, and it is by far the costliest natural disaster to ever happen in Western Europe, at $27.92 billion in damages (around €24 billion) and approximately 1,781 fatalities, including 753 in the Lisbon metropolitan area alone. The eleventh named storm, seventh hurricane and third major hurricane of the very active 2027 Atlantic hurricane season, Kate originated from a non-tropical decaying cold front. Lack of wind shear and way above-normal water temperatures have allowed it to strengthen into a dangerous major hurricane, making landfall in Cascais on September 14. Meteorological history The NHC started monitoring the tail end of a decaying cold front in the centre of the Atlantic on August 31. At first, advisories didn't gave more than 20% chances of a system developing in the following 5 days. However, on September 3, chance of subtropical development was raised to 50%, due to apparent deepening. The next day, the system unexpectedly developed tropical characteristics, leading to the NHC naming it Potential Tropical Cyclone Fourteen on the same day. By 07:00 UTC on September 5, a drop in pressure and increasing convection identified the storm as Tropical Depression Twelve. A first forecast issued that same day showcased the system to execute a slight loop before turning out to sea towards the central North Atlantic. On September 6, at 06:00 UTC, the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Kate. After trying to intensify over only slightly above-average water temperatures, the storm briefly reached hurricane status on September 8, before weakening again that same day. The forecasted track, which planned for the storm to go north, could not be proven right because of an unforeseen trough blocking Kate's path and forcing it to go east, where conditions are way more favourable for development. Immediately, early on September 9, Kate regained hurricane status with winds peaking at 82mph, thanks to decreasing wind shear in the areas and way above-average water temperatures. Hurricane Kate then kept an almost straight, northeasterly track for several days. On September 11, Kate already had acquired Category 2 winds, and the next day, it reached major hurricane status south-east of the Azores. Intensification being well underway resulted in Kate reaching Category 4 status on September 13 at around 10:00 UTC, just 365 miles away from Lisbon, with its winds peaking at 150mph. The pressure dropped dramatically to reach 914mb. Kate's figures remained steady over the same day, before slightly weakening into the night. On September 14, at 10:30 UTC, Hurricane Kate made landfall in Cascais, Portugal. Wind gusts of around 135mph were observed, while the equivalent of 9 months of rain fell over the area. Over the following days, the hurricane proceeded to "flush" the Portuguese coast south by north. Over two days, the hurricane's track followed the Portuguese coast towards the north, while progressively weakening. The system made a second landfall in Cangas, Spain, where it was back to tropical storm status. After having transitioned to an extra-tropical system late on September 15, over the Spanish region of Galicia, the storm entered the Bay of Biscay, where favourable conditions helped the storm maintain tropical storm-force winds. The system made a third landfall in Guilvinec, France. The storm weakened over Brittany and the cooler English Channel. It made additional landfalls in Guernsey and Bournemouth, England, before eventually dissipating over Great Britain on September 17. Retirement In April of 2028, on the demand of France, the 50th WMO RA IV Hurricane Committee decided to retire the name Kate from future Atlantic seasons, meaning no storm will ever bear this name again. It was replaced with Kasey in the 2033 season. Category:Future storms Category:Category 4 hurricanes Category:Costly storms Category:Destructive storms Category:Atlantic hurricanes Category:Rare storms Category:European tropical cyclones